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Ontario government defends move to axe basic income pilot project

Posted on Friday, August 03, 2018 by Willis Stokes

Ontario government defends move to axe basic income pilot project

The government also announced that Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program rates would be increased 1.5 per cent, half of the three per cent commitment the Liberals made in their final budget.

The pilot program, launched last year by the province's Liberal government, was meant to last three years.

Joe Marczi has been getting $1,900 a month since February from the basic income pilot project, and was expecting that money for the next 3 years.

"When you're encouraging people to accept money without strings attached, it really doesn't send the message that I think our ministry and our government wants to send". That translates to a minimum annual income of $17,000 in Canadian dollars (about $13,000 US) for single people, $24,000 for married couples.

He's one of about a thousand Hamiltonians receiving guaranteed income through the study.

In a freakish turn of events Thursday, Doug Ford's government said its promise to keep the basic income pilot was "fake news".

Basic income programmes are being tested out around the world. When pressed several times she said "we had a platform and this was not in the platform".

NDP legislator Lisa Gretzky, the party's social services critic, said the government had pulled the rug out from under vulnerable Ontarians and would likely continue to do so.

Mike Schreiner, Guelph MPP and Green Party leader, considers the increase to be a cut to the social assistance rate.

The Ontario government defended their decision to put the brakes on a basic income pilot project Wednesday, saying the program discouraged participants from finding work.

When pressed on why the program was being cancelled, MacLeod responded only that it was not going to be sustainable.

Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser said the Tories had done nothing but tear things down and would continue to do so. "This decision isn't about saving money, this decision is about fixing a broken system", she said. In Silicon Valley in particular, many have championed basic income as the answer to the question of how society should deal with large-scale job automation-but real-world data on whether such a program is even a good idea has been lacking.